The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-11-01
THREE INTERVIEWS.
By VIM. Perry Brown.

Ayzarde, OF the tn South Carolina infantry,
then on special staff detail in Richmond, Va,
was passing down line of new recruits drawn
up for medical inspection. He put them
through the usual contortions. They swung
their arms, rose up on their toes rolled their
eyes, aud put out their tongues after the man.
ner of their kind, while he perfunctorily
thumped and scrutinized them not unlike a
critical darby in melon patch.
At last he halted before a medium-sized,
yeliow-haired lad, whose beardless face, slen-
der physique and evasive, not to say nervous
manner indicated that youthful tinlidity was
strongly contending with the fiery resolution
that had doubtless brought him hither His
preternaturally large bright eyes hardly ever
rose III their glances above the surgeons sash
and sword belt. His face and neck were well
tanned, yet his textures were of classic
regularity and his hand small and
shapely. The routine questions as to age, etc,
We're answered with evident reluctance. The
doctor seemed to grow snspious, for he sud-
denly pressed his knuckIes Sharply against the
youths chest. The latter sprang back with
swift appealing glance at his tormentor, who
abruptly turned, passed to the next man and
so on down the line. When he had finished
Doctor lyZarde returned to the lad, and con-
sulting his list, said in cold, official tone:
Your name is Oliver Wild?"
eyes, sir.'
''You will come with me, Wild. Your case
seems to require special attention"
The surgeon led the way, while Wild, with
SJCS upon Ou6 grOulu, quietly 1Oil0WeQ nm
anto a private office, when the latter closed
Che door and turning to the would-be solder
me said sternly:
Now, miss or madam, how long have Won
Oeen InaSqueradng i'll this attire and what is
your real purpose?''
The youth looked up with frightened con-
traction of feature, then assumed with effort
hardened, indifferent air, saying:
II RELY don't make out to understand We
SIR" ~
Il will make my meaning plain. You are a
woman. 1t is difficult to conceal such things
from physician who knows his business Do
not deny it. 'Twould save you from more
public exposure. Your motives though widely
mistaken may be honorable yet, though the
confederacy needs soldiers badly we can do
without women in that capacity for while
set also fear that in your language as in
your actions, you are yelling your real station
IN life by an assumption of ignorance as I'M
natural to you as it seems degrading to me-
AS Iyzarde concluded the other lowered his
gaze to the floor and remained obstinatelv
silent. The doctor resumed.
You will see that it is impossible for me to
pass you Yet if you have a real desire to
serve your country, there are other ways where
IN IN you may do SO without unsexing yourself.
''Do you really think so ~ she interrupted.
eve may as well say ''she" now.l In her
earnestness she forgot her cracker dialect and
information, and spoke with pure and refined
enunciation.
Certainly" replied Tyzarde. "There are
hospitals needing good nurses; also the Sisters
of Mercy and Charity of various religious and
secular orders who follow the ambulance and
brave shot and shell to accomplish good work
on the battle field. The courage of the soldier
is not more essential than the devotion of
those who minister to human suffering amid
frightful peris to the living. Even your face
and hands are artifcially tanned See?'
Before she could resist he took
one Of her hands, pushed up the coatsleeve,
revealing thereby shapely white arm
fThTOnOb the brown her pbanlS ha tIa
rich color rising as she hung her head. At
this period some one entered the outer Office,
and the doctor, bidding her to remain there
until his return, went out, closing the door
behind him.
1t was several minutes before he came back,
only to ind that the would-be recruit had van
1shed. An open window looking into a back
yard, that communicated with AN alley leading
to the street, explained the manner of her exit.
He afterwards made various discreet inquiries,
yet heard of her no more, finally abandoning
the quest with feeling of pique She had
interested him more than he felt the heroine
of such freakish escapade deserved. There
was contradiction and a mystery involved
therein that puzzled and fascinated him. yet
as the months Wore on these impressions grad
ually faded into vague, gently regretful
memory.
Sister Maria Jones, a nurse of the order of
Che ''White Cross, attached to the ambulanceS
of Gordon's division. was attending the
Richmond The time was the winter of
IS64-5. Grant was drawing his Gordon tightly
around the doomed city. Without those bat
fle-worn lines were all the pOmp and circum-
stance of war; within, its suffering and desc
3ati0n. The men in the rifle pits We're stretched
to the utmost limit CONSTANT with safety and
the fighting was incessant and severe.
One day Sister Maria called on to attend
a young surgeon, whose professional ardor on
the field had subjected him to a dangerous
wound. She started back at the sight of his
pale, inanimate face, then qniety settling her
self with a new resolve, she hardly left his
side for two days. lie was then raken to Rich
snond where better accommodations could be
secured to him. After his departure Sister
Maria continued her work of mercy as usual,
yet there were graver lines upon her face and,
at times, a soft, interpretive light in her eye,
while she might have been detected in COM
uniting certain Thoughts TO her diary that she
would never willingly have made public. The
next entry after the wounded surgeons de-
parture ran thus:
''He is gone, and so ends my brief dream.
He recovered his strength sufficiently to en-
dure removal, and during one lucid interval he
recognized me. 1t happened that / alone was
by his side. His brown eyes opened with a
bewidered glare; he looked around him wear
iedly, then fixed his gaze upon my face. In
spite Of myself blushed and looked down.
Then heard him murmur, as if to himself:
''It must-my little recruit-ran off,
'I dared not raise my eyes, though could
afterWard have bitten out my
tongue at my own stupidity. L might
have given him word-one sign even of
recognition but no; 1 must stand there down
faced like fool, until gasping sigh aroused
me. He had tainted dead away. He never
seemed to know me after that. All mel Per-
haps it is Just as well, for in this terrible hurry
burly Of war we are not likely 70 meet again.
THEY.
On mellow May morning Of the year 1867,
a gentleman was walking along one Of those
puzzling, alphabetical side streets Of Washing
ton which in the early post bellum days were
usually either bathed in mud or choked with
dust. A lodging and boarding house atmos-
phere pervaded the din2y brick houses on
either side. A tawdry WEAKNESS Of aspect
brooded over them, as though the require
ments Of existence were burdcnsome.
Andrew Johnsons efforts to conciliate the
old aristocratic element Of the south were at
their climax, and tho national capitol was
much frequented by the social and political
leaders Of Dixie in consequence. Many Of them
we're sadly impoverished and aired, per